“I never thought I’d see the day high school girls imitate Honda Soichiro.” You and me both, Hayakawa. You and me both.
What They Say:
Episode 12: “A World of What-ifs!!”
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
A world where Hane has never fallen off her bike…and other strange things. That is what awaits us in the season finale for Bakuon!! Yes, you heard it right, in the strange world these bike-happy girls inhabit, Hane has never fallen while on her bike nor tipped it over, keeping hers in pristine condition. It’s quite common for bikes to fall over (they just aren’t built to stay standing, thus the kickstand) and Onsa even notes you’re not a real biker unless your bike has fallen at least once. Of course, with this set up, it’s only natural that Hane’s bike will fall over and require a replacement gas tank as her tank takes the brunt of the damage
Going back to Onsa’s shop for repairs, the two girls manage to damage Hane’s tank even further (it was initially just a minor repair job), so that now it needs a replacement. And it just so happens that Onsa’s dad has a replacement tank from a Honda Su Four: it used to be from a training school but later was retired and then in an accident with its new owner, leaving just the gas tank intact. When Hane sees the tank, she recognizes it right away: of course, it’s Baita, whom we haven’t seen since the opening episodes. Baita is a bit embarrassed at being only a tank now, but Hane happily talks to her (and Onsa watches them from a distance, freaked out by Hane’s behavior).
This is just the opening course for the real “what if” of this episode: while at a bookstore, Hane runs into “Biker Jesus” again and manages to upset the holy rider (who was reading a men’s magazine aimed at motorcycle enthusiasts who might be enthused for more than just bikes). In order to test Hane’s faith perhaps, she wakes up the next morning in a world without motorcycles. It’s pretty much the world as it is…just without motorbikes. The Bike Club are all there with their favorite bicycles (though Raimu is absent from this world, confirming all theories that she is some kind of Spirit of Motorcycles) and Rin continues to be a Suzuki fanatic…just about Suzuki bicycles.
Hane is having none of it, however, and keeps the faith in motorcycles despite everyone thinking her crazy (and also noting that this world is far, far safer with fewer car accidents). A little bit of potentially subversive commentary in a fantasy setting that is meant to boost motorcycles. In the end, it’s all revealed to be a dream (and Raimu returns, perhaps brought back by Hane’s unwavering belief in motorcycles).
To close out the series, we have what are the core parts of the appeal of this show: the enthusiasm of the girls, especially Hane, for the entire world of motorbikes and the mixture of sometimes absurdist and surreal humor featuring the girls. We have an informational segment (featuring Soichiro Honda, the founder of Honda Motors and a pioneering motorcycle engineer) that still leads into humor (the quote from Hayakawa noted at the start). And we have the kind of heartwarming fuzzies that Hane is meant to evoke with her silly, but sincere feelings about motorbikes.
Season Retrospective:
While there is a lot going on with Bakuon!! with the show operating on several levels (Girls in a Club Not Doing Much Show; parodies by the boatload; subtle social commentary; nostalgic callbacks to popular culture decades ago; absurd humor; fanservice of many varieties: not just girls but motorcycles, outfits, and bikes), it manages to bring all the elements together well. Like a well-tuned engine, the show hums along with its weird gags, cute girls, and biking bravado.
The humor and bike information (which is rarely if ever preachy and was somewhat better integrated than the somewhat similar Dagashi Kashi, which could be slightly heavy-handed with its encyclopedia segments) worked mostly because the show managed to assemble a cast of characters we could care about. Not in a deep way, but enough to make us want to go along for the ride with them. There is not much that is complex or complicated about Hane, Onsa, Rin, Hijiri, Raimu, and later Chisame, but they were cute and fun to tag along with, exactly what a show like this calls for. This is much more important than you might think as several other shows this season failed to connect with me because their characters, well, frankly sucked. I could not care less if they lived or died. With Hane, I was genuinely feeling a little sad when she was lonely in the alternate world without motorcycles. Whenever we saw a childhood flashback involving Rin, I felt a pang of sorry instantly, knowing that Rin really could use some free psychotherapy for what her idiot of a father put her through.
If you can come to care, even a little, about the characters, it’s all that much more easy to bring you on board for the humor and absurdity that Bakuon!! featured this season. It’s not quite the best show of this season, but it was a very enjoyable one that even may be worth a rewatch in future. Any show with rewatch value these days is one that deserves some praise.
Episode Grade: A-
Series Grade: B+/A-
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Apple iMac with 12GB RAM, Mac OS 10.10 Yosemite
